This three day event was put together by the talented duo of Nicole Stevenson [of Random Nicole] and Delilah Snell [of The Road Less Traveled] [both co-produce the Patchwork indie art festival as well].  It’s a smorgasbord of workshops and lectures geared to help you start, improve, and maintain your very own indie business.

Want to make felt flowers?  You can do it at Craftcation.

Want to learn to bind books?  They’ve got a workshop for it.

Want to find out how to finance your business?  They have it covered.

Bake pies, make jewelry, learn wordpress, expand your business, make jam, take better photos, conquer social marketing, and tons more … sounds like a good time.  Wish I could make it.

Thanks to Nicole for letting me be a part of spreading the word.

I helped by cutting out a few things she requested [hair, ballet shoes, etc] and she did the rest herself.  I think they are pretty cute and wanted to see what kind of paper bag puppets other people were making.  I’d love to see some of your own creations too!

I love this pirate!  By Amanda Formaro on Kaboose

From ‘The Star Wars Craft Book‘ by Bonnie Burton, Admiral “Sackbar”! LOL [via boingboing]

Toothy Guys by Michelle M. of Isle Tri

Rrrribit!  Cute and Simple Froggie from Learning Ideas

I am crazy about this owl made by Denise Sharp.  I think I’m going to buy a pack of brown paper bags today!

]]> http://furiousshirley.com/blog/2012/01/25/paper-bag-puppets/feed/ 1 http://furiousshirley.com/blog/2012/01/13/the-best-gift/ http://furiousshirley.com/blog/2012/01/13/the-best-gift/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:40:56 +0000 Shannon Shirley http://furiousshirley.com/blog/2012/01/13/ read more »]]> This year we brought a few of our family members to tears with this gift -

A mini book about little miss Ava.  It came out soooo cute!  We did a pic or two for each month of her existence and a few extra pages for some of her artwork and photos with family members.

We used Blurb to make the books and were really happy with the outcome.

I’m sure we will be making more books in the future … I’m thinking a wedding book would be great since I know I’ll never get around to printing photos and putting them in an album.

I covered the table with some scrap paper and handed her the measured ingredients to dump into the bowl.  Then I gave her the spoon and let her mix it up – her most favorite part of helping me in the kitchen.

Once the dough was thoroughly mixed, I divided it into three lumps [I had to keep adding flour until the dough wasn't so sticky] and then added the food coloring.  [I would really recommend wearing disposable gloves for this part, unless you want red, blue, and green hands like I ended up having.]  Just keep kneading the dough until the color is blended.

Hooray – play dough!

After I just reminded her to NOT smash it all together.

After I reminded her that once you smash them together, it’s very unlikely to have three separate colors again.

“Oh well, mom.  I’ll just make a rainbow worm.”  And that was perfectly fine with me. :-)

Crates.  I love old crates anyway, and hanging them on the wall gets them up off the floor and makes for a charming and cozy place to store things.  [And hello - casters!  Love it!]

DIY tutorial from Factory Direct Craft Blog

via SpiderWomanKnits

Loving these ladder shelves [um, and the guitar collection - especially the steel - killer].  Great for an industrial touch.

DIY tips via Networx

A shelf made out of magazines?  Yep – National Geographics.  Pretty darn awesome.

by designer, Sean Miller

Don’t have a fireplace mantle?  Make one and use it as a shelf.  If you’re not very wood shop friendly, scour craigslist and salvage shops that carry architectural items for an old mantle to use.

DIY via Linda of Burlap & Blue

Super rustic … I love bringing natural elements into the home and this driftwood shelf does it perfectly.

DIY via Design*Sponge

Bringing new meaning to the word bookshelf.  These shelves ARE books!  You can choose from a selection of titles too.

by Little Fish Furniture

I spotted this mod book hanger over at sfgirlbybay.  They come in black, orange and white and also function as a bookmark.  Give thanks to the ºes design label for this genius.

available at Sleek Identity

Who knew that mushrooms made such great display shelves?  The DIY is a little involved, but well worth it.  Will someone please make some for me????
DIY via Finder Maker

Aren’t they just to die for?  The one shown below can be personalized to showcase your very own family tree.  Super cool.

Other people are doing some pretty awesome stuff with globes too … things you can even do yourself.  Here are a few of my favorite DIY globe projects:

This chalkboard globe made by Halligan Norris for Design*Sponge looks amazing and is fairly simple to make.

This global bowl made by Cathe of JustSomethingIMade was made by sawing a globe in half, and lining with old book pages and some glitter – pretty neat idea [and it makes one for you, one to give away!].

Get the tutorial for this cool Globe Pendant lamp from Project Create a Home.  I think I would add some metal hardware on the top, but otherwise genius.

It started a mini obsession rehabbing old wooden furniture and spray painting anything I could get my hands on [bedroom dresser DIY coming soon].  The ONLY thing I miss about our old apartment uptown was that it had a small yard and big basement I could use for this kind of stuff.

Anyway, all I used was some medium and fine grit sandpaper, gloves, black spray paint [mine was a high gloss], and a new knob.  Easily less than $20 in supplies.  And no more than 1-2 hours of labor.

First I scrubbed it clean, sanded out the imperfections with the medium grit paper, wiped it down, went over some spots with the fine grit, wiped it down again, and then I busted out the spray paint.  Omigosh I love spray painting … even if I did have to drive 10 extra miles to a Home Depot outside the Chicago city limits to get it.  You can buy one of those spray paint holster things to save you some finger cramps, but this was a pretty small job, so it wasn’t really necessary.  I find using a slow and steady back and forth motion with the can works best.  Don’t get carried away.  Light even layers.  Make sure each layer is dry before you do the next to prevent drips and bubbles.  After the paint dried, I screwed in the new knob and one month later we moved our “new” little nightstand into our new loft.

Saved from the trash, and now a bedroom treasure.

Left to Right.

Black and White Stripes:  Made from an old sweater[!] by Mandi.  Tutorial on Smile and Weave [towards the bottom].

Moss:  I love almost anything green.  This moss wreath is so simple and pretty.  Made by Christina of Our Little Box.

Felt:  White like snow felt wreath by Laura of Oh Hi.  No full tutorial posted, but she notes that if enough people inquire, she will probably put up a DIY post. [Oh, please do!]

Cupcake Wreath [amazing, right?!]: Made by Jen from Tatertots and Jello.  Cupcake liners, ribbon, and hot glue – I think even I could pull this one off!  She made it for Valentine’s Day, but depending on what cupcake liners you get the possibilities are endless.

Balloons:  What a cute idea – perfect for a birthday!  Made by Erin of Two More Seconds.

Paper Circles:  A fun project to do with kids … very Christmas-y!  Made by Beckie of Movies of Myself.

Patchwork:  I love patchwork quilts and this wreath looks just as homey and cozy.  By Jennifer Casa, of JCasa *handmade.

Yarn:  Those little felt flowers really make this wreath.  So pretty.  Made by Danielle of Take Heart.

Bicycle:  Very inventive.  No tutorial, but pretty simple – wrap ribbon and lights around an old bike tire.  Love it.  Made by Megan.

Clothespins:  I am beginning to realize that you can make a wreath of out almost anything.  This cool clothespin wreath was made by Denise of d. Sharp Journal.

Nature:  This one would be really fun to do with the kids – have them run around collecting pine cones and pods, then they can make their very own designs.  You could even bring out the spray paint for some pops of color.  Made by Maya of Maya*Made.

Lori from Paisley Wallpaper stores her jewelry in these cute little molds.  Great idea if you have the drawer space!

I love the way an old frame and a piece of screen were used for an earring display.  Check out the full tutorial at Restored Style [she also has some other great jewelry storage ideas, so be sure to look around].

Or if DIY is not your thing, you can buy one that someone else made by hand.  This earring frame was built from weathered barn wood by Paradise Hill Designs.

This one is yet another great example of re-purposing burlap.  Marianne used a coffee sack, a large frame, and a few hooks to make this lovely creation.  Read all about it on her blog, Songbird.

Erin from Little e found these antlers at a thrift shop while road tripping through Texas.  I love it so much, I might just steal this idea!  But be forewarned … Erin says drilling holes in the antlers to hang them releases quite an odor.  Thankfully, it goes away and you are left with a really cool and creative way to display your necklaces.  This could be great for scarves and maybe even coats too.

If you have a great idea for jewelry organization, let me know!  Would love to share it!  XO.

I cannot wait to get the film developed because I know we are going to have some great shots … like this one of my Gramma Dorie!  Priceless.